Excessively Expensive Food, Seattle Style

Random first note - it is a spectacularly beautiful day here. Sunrise on the Olympics, and helping some tourists find Pike Place market - good morning.

As our Christmas present, my parents gave Allison and me a gift certificate to the Herb Farm. One menu each night, multicourse fixed price, wine pairings, the works. Their menus are only grouped by the major fresh-ingredient seasons of the region, so when we saw salmon we felt that one was worth waiting for.

The general history of the place is that a couple inherited their parents herb farm which was on some land outside of Redmond. They started offering cooking classes and some small attempts at a restaurant in that location. After their initial restaurant burned down they sold the land (probably for a nice sum given the location), bought a smaller plot of land and small building near the Woodinville wineries, and went about building their vision for what a nice northwestern restaurant should be. The owners take the diners on a tour of the gardens, pick pieces of the herbs they're using that night, describe generally how they're used in the dishes. It's kinda an upscale hippie approach to fine dining. They reinforce the local-food philosophy and how everything is either from their gardens, the farms just down the road, or the Pacific Ocean. This includes the wine - the furthest one traveled was from Oregon. I agree with the approach.

Unlike other high end restaurants that I've experienced, the chef and sommelier give a presentation on the ingredients, techniques and wines before the dinner. It is a much more personalized experience - you get to know a bit about everyone that's cooking for you - interesting approach.

However this is a restaurant, not a cooking school. On to the food. No, not all 9 courses included salmon. Some were very simple (one prawn - tail part was butterflied with an herb butter, the head part was fried) and some were complex (3 rabbit and herb gnocchi over stewed beet slices). For the 3 salmon preparations they approached fish in a way I agree with. Cook it as little as possible with as few seasonings as possible. (Sashimi cut with chive, ceviche with a house made lemon scented oil, seared fillet with reduced pinot noir as a light sauce)

It wasn't as overwhelming as the concept may sound. Each of the 9 courses were small - just 3-4 bites at most. Still a large meal, but not any more filling than a trip to the Penguin.

Neat Idea:
- Put a fragrant herb leaf (lemon verbena) in a glass of sparkling wine. The bubbles will smell like the herb.

A bit too self-aware take on a French Laundry creation:
- carrot sorbet cannelle in a cardamom dill 'ice cream cone' with sprig of lemon balm
(the carrot sorbet was even the same color as the salmon cannelle...)

Summary Time

Given the whole house experiment over the last couple years, and the move, and business school, and well, reading more economics nerd stuff, I've found this housing-as-an-investment boom/bust rather interesting.

In the consumer media (cnn, etc) there are typically only glossy stories when companies have failed or when someone is crying about losing their house, rather than the larger trends and reasons why things are like they are.

Enter NPR.

Listen to this show: http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=355

Yes, the This American Life presentation model of making ordinary life somewhat more dramatic is still there, but it is still a good concise summary of why the US is in a recession and why it's a larger problem than just some regional banks running short of cash.

There were no informed guesses as to the short term economic future made on the program, and probably for the better. It's still early in the process. No one really knows how it will shake out.

Agreed

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/opinion/04friedman.html

Quieter weekend

No concerts or road trips - just a generally quiet weekend in the city - went to a new restaurant (Boom Noodle) where they have okonmiyaki and generally good and interesting noodle combinations.

Sunday was perfect weather - sunny and 60's. So we just walked around a lot. Brought bacon to the local donut shop (Top Pot) that makes good maple donuts to re-create the Maple Bacon Bar from Voodoo Donuts. Then walked to pick up groceries up at the top of Queen Anne hill - just to see the views.

In consumer news - the single speed bike experiment begins. Swapped the old Trek mtn bike for a single speed Marin. I've read a lot about the whole simplification idea and seen tons of them in the city here. Which is surprising because there are well, hills. However the initial test rides seem to show that geared right it can work and be very relaxing. You're just cruising at a fair speed - about 10mph, which is enough for city traffic. Hills don't seem to be an issue, and I took it up some pretty steep grades already. It's all about using the right tool for the job it seems, and in the city, one gear about covers it. For long rides, if I were to ever want to do that, it would be sub-optimal, but I see the bike as in city transportation now, not as a weekend workout plan.

Also - swapped both older watches in favor of a shiny new Seiko automatic (SARB029). Yes, I had to be slightly different and order a model you can't get here directly from Japan. It's kinda interesting that mail from Japan is quicker to arrive than mail from NC out here. In any case - the Seiko should be far more livable than the Poljot - automatic winding, far more precise build quality - hopefully more durable too. Looked at the Tag Heuer and Omega Seamaster again, but they're 3x or more the price of the Seiko for about the same precision. Japan wins this one.

This week - ah, it's still Bike to Work month! Time to continue that trend.

Networking

Does anyone know anyone that would want a size 48R black (with nice fabric weave) double breasted suit - free plus cost of mail?

It is in excellent shape - I'm just too small for it now. (Down 2 suit sizes in as many years)

Leave a message if interested. Thanks!

Seattle - Healthiest City in the USA

So, I finally found a good gyro within walking distance of my office (or the apartment) - fresh veggies, a no-too-runny cucumber/yogurt sauce.

However there are 1.4 miles and 450 feet of vertical elevation gain to get to it.

Seattle - regularly listed in the healthiest cities in the USA - perhaps not entirely for the diet of its residents, but that it makes them work out to get to the good food.

In other news - Lotus was in town on Wednesday - good show - some new experimental stuff (some more polished than others) as well as at least one from Germination, which is the first time I'd heard anything from that album across ah 5 concerts of theirs now.

This weekend will undoubtedly be less of an adventure than last, probably wandering the city looking for real ramen.

Weekends

Last weekend Allison and I got out of town for the first time in a while.

A fair percentage of the bulb-based flowers in the US are grown about an hour north of Seattle in the Skagit Valley. Vast fields of daffodils, and then tulips, bloom here every spring.

It looks kinda like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Skagit_Valley_1.JPG

Except we got there before the tulips bloomed, so there were a few vast fields of yellow daffodils, then lots of green soon-to-be-tulips. Pretty, but not as spectacular as the billing. (yet)

At which point we drove over to Whidbey Island and took a ferry over to the Olympic peninsula. After a quick lunch in Port Angeles we drove up to Hurricane Ridge.

Basically, it's the Alps, in North America - nice winding road, no guardrail, 5500 ft up in the mountains - huge views out over the valley to the mountains. The view from the top definitely lives up to the expectations. It is probably the most spectacular place in the US. (HW1 in Big Sur comes close - and there are restaurants there so you can sit and drink wine and enjoy the view for hours - possibly better for that reason)

Pics are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2134065&l=97ea7&id=36620541

Took a more southerly ferry back to Seattle in time for dinner. Not a bad day at all.

Sunday we were back under the clouds - time to catch up on nerdiness - played Crysis some - it's the best approximation yet of a first person action movie - not much in the way of story, but fun - big explosions, so on.

Portal on the other hand is better in my opinion - good sense of humor, smart puzzles - interesting.

This weekend - depends on the weather - lots of parks to explore.

Nick's Tip of the Week: never use the front brake on a mountain bike going down a really steep hill. It can result in a spectacular incident. Requiring band-aids.

A Day in the Life

First thing - it's been nearly a year since the wedding. The life situation for Allison and I has changed somewhat in that year - new jobs, new cities, we're still exploring and having fun.

It was overall a typical weekend day - shops and market in the morning... split a piroshky (cinnamon cardamom raisin) and the just-out-of-the-fryer tiny cinnamon donuts at the Daily Dozen... pick up some fresh veggies and fruit for the week... back home for lunch.

Walked around the Seattle Center and walked a few errands (new camping 3L pot and sporks at REI) in the afternoon... then cooked dinner.

Mushroom ravioli with a browned butter/thyme/vegetable/reggiano parmesan in a vegetable stock sauce. Side of broiled asparagus. This was one of the simpler/better dinners I've cooked lately.

Allison made a strawberry granita for dessert, and we split a bottle of Pommery champagne.

All in all - good day, good food, time to fall asleep watching a movie.

Updates

Well, my mom is recovering - the first week after surgery is pretty dicey though - lots of monitoring for brain swelling and small strokes and such - signs are pointing to a full recovery - at least she's able to get up and walk around a bit already - and she sounds normal enough - moreso than after the back surgery last year.

In other, more upbeat news - due to lack of seating here I bought a Sumo Omni - freakin huge (5' square) pillow/urban lounge bean bag thingy - it arrived yesterday and I immediately proceeded to fall asleep in it - good sign.

It's comfy, and foldable and feels durable enough. Priced cheaper than more traditional, less comfortable seating too.

Link http://www.sumolounge.com/omni.shtml

Also - for the musically inclined - Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead - still thinking it's the best album I've found in a while.

Yikes

The Bad - my mom's in the hospital with a brain aneurism.

The Good - she's generally fine - it's minor and operable - should be back to normal in a month.

Operation to fix it is tomorrow morning - think positive.

Better answer:

After trying to think through the current economic situation and well, not knowing enough - here is someone that fills in the gaps - good article, not too technical.

http://www.annsjournal.sampasite.com/Wall-Street-s-House-of-Cards.htm

Economics

As someone that just made a financially risky move - left large corporation for small corporation 3000 miles away, downsized materially - sold a house, car, lots of furniture and stuff, I'm wondering what the ramifications of that are. I seem to be doing alright - but what does the future hold economically - is buying a residence with the proceeds from the last one a smart decision right now - what about going back to school, how will the job market fare - these are rather expensive questions to ask.

For all the reasons given in the news for why the US economy is in trouble, here is my attempt (as someone who has er, just over a year of business class experience) at summarizing what's happening. I may miss things, but hope to explain the basics somewhat correctly.

- The home value question.
Are home prices simply supply vs. demand?
This seems to be a local issue and not a national one - if the economy in a city is strong then it is a desirable place to live and home values will be higher than an economically depressed city (i.e. Detroit). However there seem to be national forces at work here as well: value of the dollar and the availability of credit. Basically - where does the money come from for people to mortgage a home, and how much is that money worth.

Mortgage market problems - what's the deal?
Pretty much anyone that buys a home does so with a mortgage. So the bank gives you money to buy a house, and expects that you'll pay it back with interest over some period of time. Assume you have a fixed rate mortgage at 6% - the bank then generally knows what payment to expect and when it will receive it. This is pretty predictable. (mortgage prepayments and defaults being the risk, however the riskiness is tied to how much interest they charge to make it worth their risk)

The issue at work here is where does the money come from that the bank loans you. People deposit money in savings accounts or CD's - so the bank pays them say 3% for their reduced liquidity and then loan that money out to other people at 6% (even if after some of those loans are paid down early or default the bank only gets 5% on average) - yay profit. Sounds nice and simple however it's a bit more complicated than that.

The loans that the bank creates can then be bundled and traded as mortgage backed securities - basically banks bet between themselves and other trading houses on how much of the full value+interest of the loan portfolio they'll get back based on the riskiness of the group of mortgages - 30 year fixed conforming loans are low risk, something like a 3 year ARM is on the risky side.

If the economy slows down people may choose not to buy a house or may be laid off and not be able to pay their mortgage. The result of that is lowered values on those mortgage backed securities. If the properties are foreclosed on, the end result of the bank sale may be far less than the value of the loan. Each individual loss may average under $100k, but after a few thousand, or few million, of those small losses it adds up to a fairly large loss of value. The holders of those securities may find themselves in need of lots of cash to cover the difference. Recently Countrywide, Carlyle Capital, and a few others, are companies that forgot that there had to be sufficient cash to cover that possibility and ran into trouble.

Also involved in the 'where the money comes from' is the Fed, and the value of the dollar. But it's quitting time.

More thoughts to follow...

Updates

Had some visitors over the weekend - Tim, Sarah and John were in town before Tim ships out to various ports around the world. So Allison and I put together a standard weekend in the city for them - beer, more beer, and lots of walking around to see the sights. Went well - dinner at Etta's was good - well executed fresh seafood - if less experimental than the other restaurants in that family.

This week/weekend should be quieter - need to finish up taxes and grad school prep stuff.

In other news - I'm finally mostly stable under 200lbs. Granted 198/9 isn't much different statistically from 202/3, but it's a trend in the correct direction. There's something to this fresh food and lots of walking lifestyle after all.

More concert

Bela Fleck, the Flecktones and the Seattle Symphony

Great show - very smart music.

Also - it's like NPR's audience was all in one place at the same time. Very eclectic mix of people.

Travels

Interesting notes from the weekend - first weekend completely out of town since the move.

- Washington has a pretty if quiet state capitol (Olympia) - the requisite large stone building surrounded by a large city park - neat main street with small coffee shops.

- Dancing Goats coffee gives away the burlap coffee bags in which their beans arrive in exchange for a $1 donation to a local childrens' charity - we thought that was neat and now have a huge burlap sack - will be useful for protecting the trunk of the car when carrying home potting soil and such this weekend.

- Portland is a neat place - same general northwest-y character as Seattle - very eco-conscious, walkable, pro independent business, pro local food - just on what feels to be about half the scale of Seattle. It also is much cleaner and better organized for the difference in scale. Also - their Pearl District is a great example of new urbanist planning and execution in the US. Not only for the design but the fact that it's all about the same age, less than 10 years old in this case - props to their urban planning department for being able to completely level and redevelop a whole city (warehouse) district in such a short time. For that reason though it looks very similar to the post WW2 districts in Germany - 6-10 story flats with shops at street level. Hopefully it ages as well as those have. My current neighborhood in Seattle could learn a lot from their example.

- Gosser beer - find it at Clyde Common in downtown Portland - only place I've yet found it. It's one of the major Austrian brews. Tasty.

- Best recent music find - Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead album - interesting sound, and surprisingly upbeat for music from this region.